Monday, November 30, 2009

Black Sunday: Western Equivocating on Equatorial Guinea

Oh, sorry, wrong Guinea.

"Western governments.... turn a blind eye to corruption and repression, their eyes firmly fixed on the West African nation’s abundant oil and gas reserves"

Yeah, if we LIKE your BRUTE of a REPRESSOR, that's fine!

If not, you get the sanctions or the stick!!!!


"Equatorial Guinea leader expected to win reelection" by Michelle Faul, Associated Press | November 29, 2009

JOHANNESBURG - Equatorial Guinea - a violent land of coups, petrodollar wealth, and killer poverty....

Western governments.... turn a blind eye to corruption and repression, their eyes firmly fixed on the West African nation’s abundant oil and gas reserves.

Yeah, that's only a problem when China does it.

two US lobbying firms employed....

American company Exxon Mobil was first to discover oil in Equatorial Guinea in 1994 and US companies continue to dominate the industry there but face growing competition.

Is that why it is now coming in for the tepid criticism in my agenda-pushing newspaper?

Equatorial Guinea’s per capita income has ballooned to about $31,000 a year, on a par with former colonizer Spain and making it the richest nation in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, with a small population of just 600,000, life for most Equato-Guineans has become harsher: Some 60 percent struggle to survive on less than $1 a day. The UN Children’s Fund says child mortality has increased and a third of children never complete primary school. The average citizen is unlikely to live beyond 50, yet someone in Brazil - with an average annual income of less than $10,000 - can expect to live to 72.

“It’s a scandal,’’ said political analyst Paul-Simon Handy of the South African Institute for Security Studies. “Only some 30 to 40 percent of the population has access to clean water and electricity.’’

That's weird; I hardly ever heard of the place in my newspaper.

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JOHANNESBURG - Equatorial Guinea held an election yesterday that was certain to extend the 30-year rule of Teodoro Obiang Nguema, a man accused of draining his nation’s oil wealth to fabulously enrich family and cronies while his people suffer in slums.

What, is he taking lessons from the American presidents?

Western governments that have promised to fight corruption so far have done little, as companies compete for concessions for petroleum and a burgeoning natural gas industry currently dominated by US multinationals....

Yeah, when it is OUR CORRUPTION it is not that big a deal. Makes you think the U.S. and media only use it as a club against those out of favor, huh?

Opposition parties complain campaigners have been attacked and harassed, Obiang gave only six weeks’ notice for the election and coverage in the state-controlled media is skewed....

This from the SAME MEDIA that is IGNORING CLIMATEGATE!!!!

Ah, the STENCH of HYPOCRITICAL HORSE S***!!!!!

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